Giveaway - The Flappers Series by Jillian Larkin

One of my favorite series is celebrating the release of the final installment in paperback!  If you haven't read this series, I encourage you to do so!  Set in the roaring 20's, this story has it all!

Vixen: Jazz . . . Booze . . . Boys . . . It’s a dangerous combination.Every girl wants what she can’t have. Seventeen-year-old Gloria Carmody wants the flapper lifestyle—and the bobbed hair, cigarettes, and music-filled nights that go with it. Now that she’s engaged to Sebastian Grey, scion of one of Chicago’s most powerful families, Gloria’s party days are over before they’ve even begun . . . or are they?  Clara Knowles, Gloria’s goody-two-shoes cousin, has arrived to make sure the high-society wedding comes off without a hitch—but Clara isn’t as lily-white as she appears. Seems she has some dirty little secrets of her own that she’ll do anything to keep hidden. . . .  Lorraine Dyer, Gloria’s social-climbing best friend, is tired of living in Gloria’s shadow. When Lorraine’s envy spills over into desperate spite, no one is safe. And someone’s going to be very sorry. . . . 

And now I have a special giveaway!   ALL 3 PAPERBACK BOOKS IN THE SERIES!

 

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Review - Diva (Flappers #3) by Jillian Larkin

Title: Diva

Author: Jillian Larkin

Series: 3rd (Vixen, Ingenue)

Pages: 272

Published:  July 10th 2012 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers 

ISBN: 9780385740418

Source: Publisher via Netgalley

Description: Parties, bad boys, speakeasies—life in Manhattan has become a woozy blur for Clara Knowles. If Marcus Eastman truly loved her, how could he have fallen for another girl so quickly? Their romance mustn't have been as magical as Clara thought. And if she has to be unhappy, she's going to drag everyone else down to the depths of despair right along with her.  Being a Barnard girl is the stuff of Lorraine Dyer's dreams. Finding out that Marcus is marrying a gold digger who may or may not be named Anastasia? A nightmare. The old Lorraine would have sat by and let the chips fall where they may, but she's grown up a lot these past few months. She can't bear to see Marcus lose a chance for true love. But will anyone listen to her?  Now that the charges against her have been dropped, Gloria Carmody is spending the last dizzying days of summer on Long Island, yachting on the sound and palling around with socialites at Forrest Hamilton's swanky villa. Beneath her smile, though, Gloria's keeping a secret. One that could have deadly consequences.

I Give This ...

I always like to see a satisfying ending to a series.   It's been a bit of ride, but I've enjoyed this series quite a bit.  it's opened up my eyes to a time period that I'm not really familiar with.    

I found Gloria's situation the most interesting.  I just didn't buy the fact that she would be released in exchange for gathering information on Forrest for the police.  Like he would expect anything at all from that arrangement.  I did like how it made her see what her life could have possibly been like if she had no fallen in love with Jerome.  But, it also made her realize what she was willing to do to keep him.  I think it shows how much she truly loves him.

I was the most impressed with Lorraine's changes.  She hasn't been my favorite character though out the series.   She tends to think of herself and be damned the consequences.  Suddenly she's realizing how much her actions have isolated her.  She begins to see that her actions have caused all this but doesn't know how to make amends.  When she realizes that Marcus may be marrying someone who is after his money, she thinks it might be way to show she's turned a new leaf.

I felt a little sorry for Clara.  She knows that she should have told Marcus the truth.  But, she's always had a little trouble with the "us" part.  She's use to thinking for herself.  You can really tell how much losing Marcus is pulling her down.  I was happy to see her make some choices that were strictly for herself and pull her out of the life she has been leading.  

The story was a little slow, but then the girls have all grown up.  It's not about the dancing, the alcohol, the money, or anything else to to with the speakeasies.  It's about finding who you really are and what you are willing to do to hold on to what you have.  I really enjoyed the story and thought it tied up all the loose ends perfectly.  Everybody is were they should be.   

 

Review: Ingenue (Flappers, #2) by Jillian Larkin

Title: Ingenue

Author: Jillian Larkin

Series: 2nd in Flappers

Pages: 351

Published: August 9, 2011 by Delacorte Books

ISBN: 9780385740364

Souce: Around The World Tours

 

Description: Bobbed hair. Short skirts. Cool jazz. Dark speakeasy. Anything goes. Meet the flappers, Gloria, Clara, Lorraine . . . and the rich young boys who love and loathe them. 

I Give This ...
  

I really wish there was a  better description for this book. I obviously liked Vixen enough to read the sequel, but I was hoping that this would be better than the first.  I got so much more than I bargained for.

Gloria and Jerome are trying to make it on their own in New York City.  But, it's not easy for any young couple trying to make ends met.  Add in the fact that they aren't they same race in a time when frowned upon doesn't even begin to describe their relationship.  Their living on the edge of black harlem, and Gloria has to sneak in through the fence and into the building everyday.  But, their devotion is what sees them through the day.  But when Gloria gets a job first, Jerome feels like he's failing at his promise to take care of her.  That's were my only real disappointment was in the book.  At the first real test of their love, they both seem to take the easy way out.  Granted it makes them both miserable in the process.

I think I enjoyed Lorraine's story the most.  I was worried at how vindictive she had become at the end of the first book.  And she doesn't start out on a positive note here either.  She's been hired by the mob to head a club in NYC.  Her chief job is to lure Gloria and Jerome with jobs as the club's singer and piano player.  She thinks they just want to ruff them up a little bit, and in her opinion they both desire it.  But, along the way she learns the truth about what happened that night and what the mob really wants to do to her former best friend and boyfriend.  I really truly wondered if she could put aside her grudge and help them in some way.  I did feel bad for her in the end because she's seems to get burned a lot.   But, I'm hoping she's seen the error of her ways.

I was a little disappointed in Clara.  I think she fell back into her flapper girl ways to easily.  I don't know why she couldn't see that the thrill she got off writing anonymous articles about the extravagant parties she went to was a poor substituent for she could really be doing in her life.  I did think that Marcus was a little hard on her, but that's what happens when you get caught in a lie as big as the one Clara was telling him.  I'm really hoping that they can make up in the end.  I think they are good for each other.

Overall, a massive improvement over the first book.  It still has all the intrigue, the parties, and the gossip that makes this time period interesting.  Add in the mob, romance, and the illegal club scenes and you have a really good book.  I can't wait for the next in the series, Diva!

Vixen (Flappers #1) by Jillian Larkin

Title: Vixen

Author: Jillian Larkin

Series: 1st in Flappers series

Pages: 421

Published: Available now from Delecorte Books

ISBN: 9780385740340

Source: ARC from Around The World Tours

Description:  Jazz . . . Booze . . . Boys . . . It’s a dangerous combination.  Every girl wants what she can’t have. Seventeen-year-old Gloria Carmody wants the flapper lifestyle—and the bobbed hair, cigarettes, and music-filled nights that go with it. Now that she’s engaged to Sebastian Grey, scion of one of Chicago’s most powerful families, Gloria’s party days are over before they’ve even begun . . . or are they?  Clara Knowles, Gloria’s goody-two-shoes cousin, has arrived to make sure the high-society wedding comes off without a hitch—but Clara isn’t as lily-white as she appears. Seems she has some dirty little secrets of her own that she’ll do anything to keep hidden. . . .
Lorraine Dyer, Gloria’s social-climbing best friend, is tired of living in Gloria’s shadow. When Lorraine’s envy spills over into desperate spite, no one is safe. And someone’s going to be very sorry.  

I Give This ...

For the most part this story was ok.   I'm not familiar with the roaring 20's and such, so that was an interesting aspect of the story for me.  

The characters are what I had the most trouble with.  Gloria was ok, and since most of the story seems to be about here, the book wasn't as exciting as I think it could have been.  I didn't really understand her fascination with the speakeasy's.   Was it the environment, the singing, or something else?  I got the impression that it was all about Jerome.  He became an obsession for her that she couldn't let go.  

I actually liked Clara best.  I enjoyed that she had done the whole flappers scene and was trying to make the best of her life by moving on.  I think she enjoyed proving to herself and her family (the ones who knew) that she was ready for her change.  I also liked how she enjoyed watching Gloria cut lose.  

I was most surprised by Lorraine.  I could see the jealousy building in her, but I had no idea that she would take it as far as she did.  I would be curious to see were the series takes her character next.  She's going to become more wrapped up with people she shouldn't I think.

The story felt a lot like The Luxe Series by Anna Godbersen.  So many of the elements are very similar just set in a different time period.  Which I find also ironic when you think about the fact that Godbersen has a new series set in the 20s as well.  Overall, I liked the story but there was just some things off for me.  I will probably read the next one though just to see what happens with the characters.